


Coming Home

by RTH



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Cliffhangers, Comedy, Cussing, F/M, Feels, INCREDIBLY SLOW BURN, Original Character(s), Plot Twists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-06-25 16:50:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19749799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RTH/pseuds/RTH
Summary: Mutatio wakes up in his Earth home to find his brother, the King of Fae, at his door. This is mostly background on the main characters, Ignis and Damian.





	1. Beginnings

You are woken up by someone knocking on your door and look over at your alarm clock. It’s 3 am! What delusional bastard thinks it’s alright to go knocking on people’s doors at 3 am!? Still, you get up and open the front door of your cabin. There stands your brother, the King of Fae. He’s holding his daughter, your niece. She’s crying.

“Please, can we come in?” he asks, tears in his eyes

“Yes, yes, of course!” You take the crying child and try to soothe her as you take in your brother’s appearance. His clothes are scorched. He looks like he’s just seen a ghost. Animus slumps onto the couch, head in hands, and you sit next to him. 

“What happened?” You ask.

“They attacked the castle.” Your hand, previously petting your niece’s bright red hair, pauses.

“What? Who!?”

“My own people.” He looks at you with the eyes of a broken man. “The citizens. They attacked the castle because of Ignis,” Animus references his daughters abnormal powers, “We barely made it out alive. It’s not safe for me to bring her back.”

You hug your brother. “Well, I’m glad that you did make it out alive. There might not be much room here, but you, Gratia, and Ignis are welcome here while you figure out what to do.” 

“... Gratia’s dead." You heard his voice break when saying his wife’s name. "She was murdered right next to me... We were asleep, and when I woke up, she was dead and someone was over us, preparing to finish me off as well.” You embrace him a second time, but this time do not let go as he sobs into your shoulder. After a few minutes, he pulls back.

“Animus, I’m so sorry.” Tears prick your eyes, after all, the whole family loved Gratia. You will them back, though, knowing you have to be strong for your younger brother.

He wipes his eyes, incidentally smudging ashes on his face. “It will be fine... in time... but for now, neither me nor my daughter can return to the kingdom. That’s why I need you to take care of her.” 

“What? Animus, are you sure?”

“Please, Mutatio... I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t absolutely sure. Look at her.” And look you did. Her deep blue eyes, unnatural for anyone from this planet, looked into yours and she giggled, seeming to have forgotten about the tragedy that had taken place less than an hour before.

“Ignis is still to young to mourn her mother. Me, however... I need time. Right now, I... I’m not fit to raise a child. I know she will be safe with you. Please, take care of her for me.” 

You can’t look into the eyes of your brother, his broken, pleading eyes, and say no. “Okay, I will.”

“Thank you.” He gets up and walks towards the door. You follow. After giving you one last hug, Animus steps back and nods. “Goodbye, Mutatio. Tell Ignis I love her.”

“I will.” With that, he steps out the door. At the time, you had no idea when he would be back, or where he was going, yet you still had hope that the day would never come when you would have to tell your niece about what had transpired that night.

Your brother was never seen again.

~~~

Once Ignis had grown a little, Mutatio began mentoring her and helping her control her powers. One night, a dark figure manifested in Ignis’ room. It claimed to be a Demon from Hell, and that its job was to torture Ignis for the rest of her life. It would reside in her mind during the day, constantly making her doubt herself and would often make her cry herself to sleep at night.

Because of her upbringing, however, Ignis treated this creature with kindness. She eventually learning his name, Damian Crow. While wandering through the woods near the cabin she called home, Ignis noticed that a very small section of the forest didn’t seem to have any animals in it and that the air within it was shimmering. Ignis stepped in and found Inanis, a separate dimension that could only be accessed by those pure of heart and who they welcomed in. This dimension would provide anything that those who reside in it desire, and it is where Ignis decided to live.

By adolescence, Ignis had convinced Damian to quit his job working for Lucifer and live with her in Inanis. After quitting, Damian’s true appearance surfaced. Before, he had had red hair, near-black skin, short horns, sharp teeth and nails, pointed ears, and glowing red eyes with black sclera. He now had lighter, yet still ashen skin, had lost the horns, and his eyes were now red with actual whites and they only turned black when he was upset. Damian however kept his red hair, which he keeps styled, and angular features. He also lost a few powers, but retained the abilities of shape-shifting and flight.

After Ignis and Damian moved to Inanis, the latter helped the former continue her homeschooling and started training her to fight. Over time, they began to consider each other best friends. This is where we begin our story.


	2. The Story Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian comes home drunk and he and Ignis argue.

Ignis was watching TV on the couch when Damian came through the front door. He looked and smelled extremely intoxicated.

“Hey, Asshole,” Ignis greeted her friend.

“ _Hic,_ hey, Iggy, wassssup?” Damian slurred, swaying. Knowing what was about to happen, Ignis made a bucket appear in front of Damian right before he threw up.

“Ugh, Dam, you’re drunk. Again.”

“N-not drunk, juuust a little _hic_ tipsy,”

“You’re extremely drunk, you idiot. Why do you always do this to yourself? You’re taking a shower and then you’re going to bed.” Ignis grabbed his shoulder and steered him to the bathroom, where she turned the shower on and set the temperature as high as it could go.

“In,” she commanded then waited outside the bathroom because she had some decency. She could hear Damian clumsily get into the shower, but had not heard the rustling of clothes. “Take off your clothes first!” Ignis reminded.

“Geez, if you wanted to _hic_ get me naked all you had to do was ask!” Ignis rolled her eyes as she heard Damian undress and get back into the shower. The hot water usually made him more alert, and there were no more incidents. After a while, the shower turned off and Damian stepped out fully clothed. “...my clothes are wet,” he observed.

“Yeah, wonder how that happened.” Ignis yet again steered a still drunk Damian, this time to his bedroom. She handed him a T-shirt and pajama pants and turned so her back was facing him. “Change,” she ordered.

“Done,” Damian said a minute later. Ignis helped Damian into bed, where she rolled him on his side. A clean bucket appeared at his bedside.

“Try to sleep on your side so you don’t choke if you barf. You’re gonna feel this one in the morning, pal.”

“Fuuuuuck youuuuuu…” Damian slurred before passing out.

“Yeah, g’night to you too.” Ignis went back to the living room and unlocked her phone. She checked her bank account and searched for available house listings. After about 10 minutes, she found an interesting one, saved it, and headed off to bed.

Ignis woke up to the sounds of groaning and stumbling down the hall. She walked into the kitchen, where she found an extremely hungover Damian, as expected. “I didn’t know you were a zombie,” she teased.

“Shut it and give me some ibuprofen,” Damian grumbled.

“Yes sir!” Ignis sarcastically saluted before getting a container of said medicine from a cabinet and a bottle of Gatorade from the fridge and handing them to Damian. “Breakfast is served, Your Highness.”

“You know I could kill you very easily, right?”

“One, I doubt it would be very easy, after all, you train me. Two, you’d have my uncle after you, which is not something I think you'd enjoy. Three, I’m one of the few people who actually fucking cares about you, so watch it,” Ignis said, counting on her fingers as she did so.

“Wel-.... that’s fair,” Damian replied, failing to think of a comeback.

“That’s what I thought. Now what do you actually want for breakfast?”

“I could just make it appear out of thin air, remember?”

“But I wanna practice making foood,” Ignis whined.

“Why?” Damian questioned, honestly confused.

“I’ll tell you once you’re not feeling like shit. Now tell me what you want.”

“I’d like your finest lobster, dressed to perfection, with a side of-” he was cut off by Ignis’ ‘no bullshit’ look.

“I’ll have some eggs,” he said instead.

“How you want them?”

“Cooked.”

“Who cleaned you up and put you to bed last night?” Ignis asked with a smirk.

“... Scrambled,” Damian muttered.

“That’s better.”

“Just don’t poison them this time.”

Ignis pointed the spatula at him. “Hey, I didn’t know those eggs were bad, and I apologized.”

“Whatever.”

“Don’t whatever your mother,” She joked.

“That’s really funny. You’re hilarious.”

“I know, right?” Ignis finished making the eggs and put them on two plates, which she set in front of Damian and herself. They ate in silence. Ignis, not having a killer migraine, finished first, cleaned her plate, and leaned against the counter while waiting for Damian to finish.

“This entertaining?” Damian asked.

“About as fun as watching paint dry. Do a flip,” she twirled her finger. Damian instead flipped her off. “Not exactly what I had in mind, but I’ll take it,” Ignis laughed. Damian finally finished his food and Ignis cleaned his plate as well. “How ya feeling?” she asked.

“Little less like shit.”

“Less enough to have a serious conversation?”

“Guess so.”

Ignis takes a deep breath. “Alright... I’ve been thinking for a while, and I think we should stop living in Inanis.”

“Well, I didn’t know this was a comedy show,” Damian said, starting to get up.

“No, I’m serious!” Ignis exclaimed, “Our lives are in serious lacking of some normalcy, and I don’t like being cooped up here all the time.”

“Then fucking go outside once in a while! You can leave any time you want! You don’t fucking need my permission or anything! And Ignis, normalcy!? I AM A FUCKING DEMON!! YOU ARE FROM A DIFFERENT FUCKING DIMENSION AND HAVE FUCKING FIRE POWERS!! WHO THE FUCK SAID ANYTHING ABOUT US EVER GETTING TO LIVE NORMALLY!?” Damian went off on his friend.

“WELL I FOR ONE ENJOY HAVING SOME NATURAL SUNLIGHT! I FOR ONE ENJOY BEING ABLE TO TELL PEOPLE MY FUCKING ADDRESS! AND I FOR ONE DON'T ENJOY HAVING TO WALK THROUGH A FUCKING FOREST JUST TO TALK TO ANOTHER DAMNED PERSON BESIDES YOU!” Ignis hollered back, “I’m sick of never having anything normal in my life!! If you’d let me explain, you’d know that I’ve already looked at house listings, and we have more than enough to move somewhere fucking normal for a change, and I never said that we could never come here again! I just want to have one thing constant in my life, is that too much to ask?” she finished, wiping away tears that had sprung up.

Damian sighed. Even though he was an asshole, he hated seeing his friend cry. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry for yelling. When you said you wanted to have a serious conversation, I wasn’t expecting this. It took me by surprise, but I take responsibility for yelling."

Ignis gave him a little "hmph," and turned her back, arms crossed and still mad at him for being a jerk.

Damian sat back down. "Ignis?" Reluctantly, she looked over her shoulder to acknowledge him. "... I really am sorry. I know I have a problem with getting mad quickly." He rubbed the back of his neck. "... I promise, I'm trying to work on it."

She sighed and turned back around to face him. "You're an ass."

He looked down at the table. "I know."

"Like, a gigantic ass. And not in a good way."

He sighed at his own stupidity and looked away. "I know." They sat in silence for a moment, both thinking about what a disaster the morning had already been.

Finally, Damian decided to break the silence. "So... what you’re saying is you want us to move out of here and into some place that's… normal?”

“Yes, but well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just thought maybe I’d run the idea by you since, y'know, you’re my best friend and we’ve been living together for a while. I’d also like to maybe start going to public school.”

“You said you had some house listings?” Damian asked. Ignis nodded.

“Could I see them?” She went to her room and brought her phone back into the kitchen. She brought up the listings and handed the phone to Damian. He scrolled down as he read through the list.

“They all seem to be a bit run-down, don’t they?” he pointed out.

“Well, yeah, I... I thought that maybe we could fix one up? Y'know, make it our own? We don’t have to though, I could afford a much better one, I just thought it might be fun…” she trailed off again.

Damian got up and hugged her. “I know saying it again isn't going to make much of a difference, but I really am sorry about yelling. I’ll try not to do it again,” he apologized.

“... I forgive you,” Ignis said, muffled by his shoulder. Damian pulled back and gave her her phone.

“Now, do you have any favorites?”

“What?” Ignis asked, confused.

“Do you have any favorite listings?” he repeated. Ignis’ face lit up.

“Really? I can choose a trashy one?” Ignis said, jumping excitedly. Damian chuckled.

“Of course!” he exclaimed, “We need something normal around here, and besides, it’ll be fun!”

Ignis giggled and scrolled to one. “Well, there’s this one. It’s got a couple bedrooms and bathrooms, we’d have neighbors, and it’s a short walk from a high school. School will be starting again in a month or so, y’know”

“Sounds great! Do you have the seller’s information?” Damian asked.

“Yup!”

“Well, let’s call them and see if the house is still available,”

Ignis hug attacked him. “You’re the best!”

“No, I’m the worst, but you haven’t kicked me out for some reason,” Damian said, “Now let’s get to calling.”

Ignis dialed the seller’s number and they picked up. “Hello? My friend and I are interested in a house you have for sale. Is it still available? …..” she paused, the recipient of the phone call answering, “Great! Is there a time you’d like us to come check it out? … oh, okay!” She turned to Damian. “Is noon okay?” she asked him. He nodded.

“Noon sounds great! ….. Yes, I’m sure we will be able to afford it. … Absolutely. We’ll cover the furnishings. … Yes. Thank you, have a nice day, ma’am. … goodbye…” Ignis ended the call and turned to Damian with a big grin.

“Okay, so we’re meeting her at noon! It’ll take about 30 minutes to get there. What time is it now?”

He glanced at the clock, “About 10."

“So we still have another hour before we should even start getting ready? But I’m anxious and excited!” Ignis exclaimed.

“I’m excited too, but we can’t do anything about the time now. We’ll just have to find something to do for a bit.”

“Hmm… anime?” she suggested.

“You read my mind, kiddo.” Damian agreed, ruffling her hair a bit. Ignis crossed her arms and pouted playfully.

“Hmph, I’m not a kiddo.”

“You are very much a kiddo. You hop when you get excited,” he pointed out.

“...touché.”

“Now let’s go watch some anime!” Damian ran to the living room. Ignis chased after him.

“Woo, anime!”


	3. A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a new house and Ignis is enrolled in public school. They meet Jacob.

Ignis jumped onto the couch. They watched a couple episodes of their favorite anime, _Shujinko no Tatakai_ , until Ignis’ alarm went off. They jumped up in unison.

“Wanna race to see who can get ready the fastest?” Damian challenged.

“You’re on, pretty boy.” They ran to their rooms and began getting ready. Ignis put on her usual hoodie and jeans and ran a brush through her hair. She put on the first two socks she could find and grabbed her phone, then slipped on her already tied sneakers. At the same time, Damian was putting on a sleeveless v-neck, ripped jeans, and sneakers. Though he could usually do this much faster than Ignis, he could not find one of his shoes. They both exited their rooms at the same time.

“Done!!” They shouted in unison.

“What? No way! I was done before you!”

“Fat chance!”

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter right now! It’s time to leave!” Damian laughed. The pair exited the house and ran out of the portal, into the middle of the forest.

“You’re faster than me. What form are you gonna take?” she asked the shape-shifting demon. As an answer, Damian transformed into a large peregrine falcon, large enough for Ignis to sit on his back.

“Hop on!” Damian got in position to take off. Ignis climbed on to Damian’s back and held on, squealing as he shot up into the sky and ducking to keep her head away from the branches. Ignis buried her face into Damian’s feathers. After a minute of incline, she felt him level out.

“It’s okay now! You can look, I won’t let you fall!” The wind was rushing so hard past her ears she could barely hear him. Ignis cautiously opened her eyes and looked down. They were flying high above the forest.

“Woah…” she mumbled.

“Cool, right?”

“Amazing!” she exclaimed. They flew in silence after that. Damian eventually spotted the house in the distance.

“That it?”

“Looks like it!”

“Alright, prepare for descent!” Ignis once again buried her face as she felt them leaning downwards, and at a very fast pace at that. She was relieved when she finally felt Damian slow down and pull up. They landed and she got up, but stumbled a bit after being in the air for so long. Damian quickly changed and caught her by the shoulder.

“Klutz.”

“Thanks.” They waited at the edge of the driveway for a few minutes before a car pulled in and an elderly woman stepped out.

“Why, hello! You two must be the ones who called me about the house.” the woman said.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Ignis and this is Damian.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ignis.” The duo shook the woman’s hand and walked up to the house.

“Now, this house was abandoned by its previous owner. It needs some fixing up, but if you’ll just come inside with me, you’ll see it’s quite large.” They followed the woman inside and entered into a spacious living room.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Damian said, looking around.

“Would you like a tour?” the old woman offered.

“If it’s no trouble, yes,” Ignis agreed.

“Oh, no trouble at all! You see, not many people have looked at this house, and the ones that have were only half way through the tour before they said they changed their minds.” They continued on with the tour, though at a few points Damian thought he saw something in the corner of his eye, but ended up shrugging it off as nothing. After the tour they went back outside.

“Well, what do you think?” the woman asked. Ignis looked at Damian, who nodded.

“How soon can we buy it?” Ignis asked the woman.

“Oh! Well, I have the papers in my car, of course I didn’t expect you to want it immediately but I brought them anyways. If you’ll just follow me.” They went to her car and filled out all of the paperwork. After they had finished, the woman gave them the key.

“I really cannot tell you how thankful I am to you two. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to sell this place.”

“It is certainly no problem, ma’am,” Ignis reassured her.

“Oh, please, call me Janet, and do call me if you have any issues.”

“Janet it is. We will, and have a nice day!”

“You too, my dears!” Janet got in her car and drove off. Ignis squealed and hug-attacked Damian once again.

“Ahh! I can’t believe we got the house!”

“I know! We should get to work on it asap!” They ran back into the house and over the next few weeks, they worked day and night to restore the house to perfection and move everything in. About a week before school started, they contacted Ignis’ uncle. They told him the good news and asked him to come up so Ignis could enroll for school.

“You sure about this, hon?” Mutatio Viribus, Ignis’ uncle, asked as they stood in front of the school.

“I am 100% sure, Uncle Mutatio. Now let’s go get me enrolled.” The trio entered the school and found the office, where they were greeted by a slightly surprised and confused secretary.

“Oh, um, hello. You must be the ones who called earlier?”

“Yes, we’re here to enroll my niece here.” Mutatio said, patting Ignis on the shoulder.

“Okay, here’s the paperwork,” the secretary hands him a clipboard of papers, “Come back in a few days to get your schedule and supplies list.” They sit down. Mutatio and Ignis go through the paperwork while Damian flips through magazines. They eventually finish and leave.

“Well, nice seein’ ya, kiddo. Call me if ya need anything.”

“Bye, Uncle Mutatio. See you later.” With that Mutatio gives Ignis a kiss on the forehead, gets in his car, and drives off. The duo walk home and make dinner. After dinner, they watch some more anime until about 10 pm. Damian pauses the episode of _Shujinko no Tatakai_ they were on.

“Time for bed.”

“What?” Ignis thought maybe she heard him wrong.

“You heard me, sleepy times,” Damian commanded.

“But why?” she whined.

“You have to start getting used to a school sleep schedule.”

“Uuuuuuuuugggggghhhhhhh….. fine,” she said before getting up. Ignis went into the bathroom by her bedroom and washed her face. When she looked up, she saw a figure standing behind her. Ignis screamed and turned around, hands alight with flames. A few seconds later, having heard her scream, Damian burst into the bathroom.

“Ignis!? Are you alright? Who the hell is this guy!?”

“I don’t know! He just appeared behind me! Who are you?” Ignis said to the figure, emphasizing her last sentence with the growth of her flames.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” The figure said, putting his hands up defensively. His eyes were dark grey and he was semi-transparent.

“Chill! I’m a ghost! I can’t hurt you and you can’t hurt me.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I lived here before I died and I just wanted to say hello because... I’m tired of hiding.”

“I can’t think of a better way to introduce yourself,” the demon replied sarcastically.

“Yeah, well, there was never really a good time.”

“Maybe BEFORE we moved in here!?” He raised his voice.

“Damian, just calm down a bit, bud. I think we should let him explain,” Ignis suggested. Now that she knew she wasn’t in any danger, her flames had dissipated.

“Fine,” Damian grumbled, “But not until the morning. You need sleep.”

“But you never sleep!” Ignis huffed indignantly.

“I’m not the one who will have to deal with hormonal assholes all day.”

“Because you’re the asshole!” Ignis yelled after him as he floated away, amused by his own joke. She spun around towards the ghost and finger-gunned. “G’night, Casper.”


	4. The First Day

Ignis, Mutatio, and Damian were all in the same office they had been in a week prior, the difference was that it was slightly more lively, with a slow trickle of students shuffling in and out. Her family giving Ignis a proper welcoming into her first day of public school in so long.

“ _Sniff_ , I love you, honey. Have a great first day, and don’t let anyone give you crap! Wouldn’t want you to be known as the gal with the murderous uncle, amiright?” The older man joked, tears in his eyes.

Ignis hugged her uncle. “Of course, Uncle Mutatio. I love you too. I’ll call you after school, okay?”

“Hey, kiddo,” Damian said in a hushed tone.

Ignis turned to him, “Yeah?”

“Listen, we don’t want a repeat of what happened last time, so try to keep your… special abilities,” he referenced her powers, “under wraps, ‘kay?”

“You betcha.” Just then, the bell rang. “Well, I’d better go!” she gave them each one last hug before racing out of the office to find her locker.

_“What a convenient, if not overused, plot device,”_ Damian thought as he and the emotional uncle headed back outside.

Ignis took the paper with her school information on it to check what locker she had and looked up just in time to spot it. She looked at the sheet again and put in her well-practiced combination correctly on her first try. She took the material she would need until lunch and hurried to her first class, English, where she took a seat at the front.

~~~

“Well, hello!” a man who Ignis supposed was the teacher greeted her once class had started. He had curly brown hair, brown eyes, and rimless glasses. “I’ll take a wild guess and say you’re our new student?” Ignis nodded and he shook her hand, “I’m Mr. Jameson. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?”

Ignis didn’t expect to be given a choice, but she was pleasantly surprised and complied. “Hi, I’m Ignis. Yes, my hair is natural, no, these aren’t contacts, and no, you may not call me anything other than Ignis. I like video games, anime, and not dealing with people who think it’s their job to disrupt the class. May I sit now?” Ignis turned to her teacher after her introduction. He nodded and the fiery-haired girl returned to her seat. 

The period’s lessons then went on like normal, with Ignis satisfied that she had already learned the current material in her homeschooling. The next classes went on like the first, the only difference being the attitudes of the teachers. Finally, it was lunch time. By the time Ignis got to the cafeteria with her lunch tray, it was already packed.

“Shit..” she mumbled. So much for a table to herself. Looking around and not seeing a table that wasn't full she decided to just sit against the wall. As she did so, she noticed a few other kids were doing the same. She made eye contact with a tan, dark-haired boy in all black. The boy, whom she recognized from a couple of her classes, looked away and moved his book bag. Taking it as a sign of welcome, Ignis moved herself and her tray next to him.

He barely lifted his eyes from his tray. “You’re the new girl, right?" Ignis nodded. "What's your name again?"

"Ignis Sana Viribus," she said with a smile.

"Heh, neat," the boy said quietly, "Y'know, that means ‘fire forces heal’ in Latin.”

Ignis nodded again, “My parents really liked Latin names, and my dad had a Latin last name, so it fit. What's your name?”

He lifted his head up to look as her. Before, ebony hair had covered his eyes, but as he tilted his head to get a better look at at Ignis, she could see that his eyes were a light hazel brown. “Just call me Garry."

Ignis heard a scoff and looked up to see a blonde girl in a disgusting amount of pink standing in front of them.

“Hello, Ashley. I see you had your teeth professionally whitened again.” Garry said in a monotone voice.

The girl, apparently named Ashley, laughed. “Hello, Garret,” she said in a voice that damn near gave Ignis a cavity, “I see you've finally learned how to make friends." She turned to Ignis, "If I were you, I'd get away from Emo-McGee here while you still can. You never know, you might become one of his cult sacrifices."

Ignis rolled her eyes. "No, I don't think I will. If I were YOU, I'd think about whether a black eye looks good with my outfit before opening my freakishly large mouth."

Ashley opened and closed her mouth, as if her anger could not possibly be put into words. After a full minute of looking like a fish, she walked away in a huff.

"You know... you didn't have to do that," Garry said after Ashley was out of sight.

"I would've been disappointed in myself if I hadn't put that bitch in her place and besides, you seem pretty cool."

He looked down at his tray. "Heh, well thanks."

"No problem, my dude." They finished their food just as the bell rang. Ignis and Garry rushed to empty their trays and gather their things.

"See you around, Ignis," he said right before they parted ways.

"Right back at ya." Ignis waved and got her things at her locker, then went to the rest of her classes.

~~~

Damian was waiting for Ignis outside after school. 

“Well, I see you’re not dead yet. That’s a plus,” he commented.

“What, hoping I’d leave you something?” Ignis retorted as they started walking.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” he said with a smirk, “Anyways, have you made any new friends yet?”

“Oh yeah, tons! I have practically everyone in the school on my contact list.”

“From this, I gather you have a possible friend and enemy?”

“Right on the nose,” Ignis tapped the demon on the nose, causing him to play-bite at her finger. “Hey! If you eat your friends, you’ll ruin your appetite!” She laughed.

“Whatever,” he replied.

Ignis had been right before when she said the house was close to the school. In fact, it was only a couple blocks away. Damian had no idea how to cook, so Ignis recounted her day to her peculiar roommates, Damian and Jacob, the ghost, while she started dinner.

~~~

“So I was like, ‘Unless you want a black eye, You better keep your mouth shut, bitch!’”

“Ooo, burn.”

“Yeah, and so Barbie stalks back to her table after looking like a fish for a solid- shit!” Just then, the light in the kitchen went out. Ignis sighed, “Damian, can you go get a light bulb? I think they’re in the basement.”

“Sure.” He got up from the table and went down to the basement. After a minute, a muffled, “Fuck!” could be heard by everyone upstairs, which is followed by indistinct conversation and some shuffling. He came back up with a lightbulb in hand, a little girl behind him, and a small dragon on his back. “Spirit boy, you happen to know anything about this?” he asked, pointing to the two things he did not expect to find.

“Oh,” Jacob said, “So that’s where those weird noises were coming from.”

“I- ! You- ! Just- ! ARGH! Ugh…” He turned to the little girl, “Kid, I need to know where your parents are and why you were in our basement.” She shrugged, which made Damian sigh and drag a hand over his face. “Seriously? How long have you been living here?” Another shrug. He gave a pleading look to Ignis. She crouched down to the little girl’s eye level.

“Do you have a name?” She asked the little girl, who nodded. “Can you tell it to me?”

“[ Solstice ](http://aminoapps.com/p/mh0dvw)...” she answered, barely audible and with a British accent.

“Hi, Solstice! I’m Ignis, but you can call me Iggy if you want. Are you hungry or thirsty?” Solstice nodded. “Alright, what can I get you?” The child silently places her finger over one of the veins on Ignis’ neck. “.... Oh,” Ignis realizes what the child wants, and looks over to the boys, “Um, I don’t think we have any blood right now, but we might be able to get you some. It’s a little late, will you be okay for the night?” Solstice nods. “Is this your dragon?” A nod. “Is he hungry?” The little girl shakes her head.

“Good, because we are not feeding this thing,” Damian chimed in, referring to the dragon that was currently running around his legs, which earned a glare from Ignis.

“Would you like to watch some TV?” Ignis asked Solstice, who nodded. “Okay, let’s go see what they have on.” She took the girl by the hand and led her and her pet to the living room, returning to the kitchen after a few minutes. “I hope you’re alright with leftovers tonight, Damian, because I don’t really feel like cooking anymore.”

The demon groaned, but got out some lasagna from the night before and heated it up it the microwave while Ignis cleaned up. “So, what we gonna do about the kid?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I asked her, but she didn’t tell me anything about her parents. She did say she’s been living in the basement a while though, so she might not have parents.”

“Oh, great,” he griped, “Just what we need, an orphaned mosquito and her over-sized lizard. Would she even be accepted into the adoption system? And how the fuck are we gonna get her blood while she’s here?” 

“Calm it, asshole,” she replied, “I asked her about that too, and she can have animal blood too.”

“That still doesn’t help us figure out what the hell to do with her.”

“May I suggest something?” Jacob asked, “What if we just kept her?”


End file.
